CAF and IICA underscore the importance of environmental funding for climate change adaptation as well as synergies to support sustainability efforts in Latin America and the Caribbean

CAF’s 2023 Economy and Development Report (EDR) emphasizes three main ideas: the importance of adaptation, the need to contribute to global mitigation, and the urgent need to preserve natural capital as a key factor for development in the Americas.

San Jose, 30 October 2023- (IICA) – CAF—Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) agreed that environmental funding is a crucial tool to drive the sustainability actions of countries of the region and to strengthen agriculture, reduce poverty and mitigate and adapt to climate change.

During a meeting held at IICA Headquarters in San Jose, Costa Rica, Sergio Díaz-Granados, Executive President of CAF, alongside Yorleni León Marchena, Costa Rica’s Minister of Human Development and Social Inclusion and Executive President of the Mixed Institute for Social Assistance, and IICA Director General Manuel Otero presented the multilateral agency’s report on the natural assets of countries of the region and the challenges they face in protecting their rich biodiversity, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and implementing adaptation policies.

Speaking to an audience comprised of representatives of the private sector, government agencies and academia, CAF and IICA stressed the fact that financial support for Latin American and Caribbean countries is key to regenerating soils and protecting marine resources, among other areas.

“Our financial products must evolve to better meet the needs of governments with respect to climate change and agriculture. This generation has a duty to actively participate in solving the issue of global warming”, said Diaz-Granados.

The Executive President of CAF noted that efforts should not be undertaken by governments alone; instead, society, universities, financial entities and institutions such as IICA must engage in coordinated work. In that regard, he highlighted IICA’s capacity to facilitate multilateral coordination to generate a profound impact with respect to transforming and enhancing the sustainability of agrifood systems of the Americas.

Minister León Marchena noted that climate change has put humanity on the ropes and made it necessary to rethink and scale up every action to mitigate the effects of this global phenomenon.

“In Costa Rica, the issue of climate change has not taken us by surprise. We have been undertaking actions for some time, in terms of policies and other valid yet insufficient efforts to address the challenges facing the country and the region. Solutions must also be geared towards achieving equity and protecting the most vulnerable production sectors”, he said.

Manuel Otero, Director General of IICA, stated that CAF is a natural partner for the organization specializing in agriculture and rural life, given that producers in Latin America and the Caribbean, especially family farmers, are a bulwark for the protection of natural resources and global food security.

“Together with CAF -Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, we are developing roadmaps, defining agendas and promoting these types of policies, always with a view to improving the quality of life of people, fostering sustainable development and driving agricultural and rural development in the Americas, the world’s leading food exporting region and a region that possesses a wealth of natural resources. One of the region’s challenges, therefore, is to produce more but using fewer resources”, explained Otero.

CAF’s 2023 Economy and Development Report (EDR), entitled “Global Challenges, Regional Solutions: Latin America and the Caribbean in the Face of the Climate and Biodiversity Crisis”, analyzes the challenges and opportunities for countries in the region with respect to climate action and the protection of ecosystems and biodiversity.

The report emphasizes three main ideas: the importance of adaptation, the need to contribute to global mitigation, and the urgent need to preserve natural capital as a key factor for development in the Americas.

Also in attendance during the presentation of the report were Ernesto Schargrodsky and Ricardo Estrada, Director and Lead Economist, respectively, of CAF’s Socioeconomic Research Directorate, and Rene Orellana Halkyer, the bank’s Regional Manager for Mexico and Central America.